Branches of Impossibilities
by alice.in.ink
Summary: While in the parallel universe, Rose is taken by those desiring the power of the Bad Wolf. With no other options, the Doctor must find a way to rescue his Rose before it's too late, allowed only the help of a dear Pond. However, the two stumble upon impossible universes featuring incorrect versions of Rose. The clock is on to find and save the true Rose Tyler's life. (Slight AU)
1. Capture

**Slight AU: River does not exist, but Amy is happily pregnant with a Miss Melody Pond.**

"Rory."

No response.

"Rory." This prompting was followed by a nudge.

Rory Pond swatted her hand away with a pitiful expression.

"Rory, I can't sleep."

Rory forced his sealed eyelids to part. Blinking into the darkness, he could see the outline of his wife sitting up against the headboard of their bed. His very, very pregnant wife.

"Neither could I," he agreed quickly.

Amy rolled her eyes but smiled. "Do you think we have any pickles?"

Rory blinked, still attempting to shrug off his slumber. "What?"

"I think I'm getting one of those midnight cravings," she stated, placing a hand over her swollen belly.

Rory groaned a noncommittal response, his eyes fluttering shut of their own accord.

Suddenly, Amy swung her legs over the side of the bed and switched on the bedside lamp.

Rory immediately shut his eyes against the harsh light. When he dared to squint them open, he saw Amy struggling to push her pregnant body off of the bed.

"Where are you going?" he questioned, groggily.

"Do you ever listen to me?"

That question had Rory's sensitive eyes wide open. He knew a pregnancy-influenced mood swing when he heard one. One could only make it out of such a conversation by treading very, _very_ carefully.

As such, all the dear husband could muster was a precarious, "Um…"

Amy turned her glare on him, temporarily forgoing her attempts to rise from the bed.

"Hey! Here's an idea," Rory offered, easily throwing himself out from under the covers to land on his feet, "I will go fetch you the pickles."

Amy didn't relinquish her glare until Rory had safely escaped their bedroom.

Two minutes later, Rory returned with a jar of pickles for his wife. He quickly flicked the lamp back off, handed her the chilled jar, and promptly flopped back onto his side of the bed.

It was so warm. It was the plushest push that he had ever felt. (Or, at least, that was what it felt like at two in the morning.) He would never leave his bed again.

The blinding light flick back on, piercing through his closed eyelids.

"Rory."

"Yes, dear," Rory mumbled.

"These are sweet pickles."

"The only pickles in our fridge," he added, remembering how his wife had insisted on _sweet_ pickles at the grocery store three days ago.

"Are you sure we don't have dill…?"

Rory flopped his head into his hand, supporting it as he looked up at his wife. She looked so hopeful. His beautiful, very pregnant wife. How could he deny her a thing?

"I'll run to the store," he said. After all, it was all a part of the soon-to-be-father experience, wasn't it? Fetching things for a wife's midnight cravings should to be a rite of passage into fatherhood.

Amy grinned and kissed her husband. "You're lovely."

* * *

Rory had pulled on a jumper and had fetched his wallet and keys. He would run to the store around the corner, grab _dill _pickles, and come back. Then, then he would sleep for a few good years.

However, as he pulled open his front door, an overly zealous face instantly greeted him. "Hello, Rory Pond!"

Rory let out a small, unmanly shriek that he would be sure to deny later.

"Why are you up at such an hour?" the Doctor asked, unaffected by his companion's reaction.

"What are _you_ doing on my front porch at two in the morning?" Rory hissed back, trying to not let his wife know a certain Time Lord had resurfaced. (At least until the morning.) He desperately wanted any shenanigans to wait until he had finished his goodnight's rest.

"Now, _that_ is a story for the ages," the Doctor began as Rory pushed them back out onto the doorstep, swiftly shutting the front door behind them. "Have you heard of the Thesoloniacs, Rory?"

"No, I can't say I have," Rory answered, still fighting off lingering sleep as he walked towards his car.

"Oh, they're a marvelous race!" the Doctor remarked, his voice filled with wonder. "They've got hands as big as their faces!"

Rory slid into the driver's side of his treasured car, and the Doctor nonchalantly followed him into the passenger's seat.

After buckling, the Doctor's smile faltered. "Come to think of it, my hand is as big as my face." He raised his palm to his face, sizing them up.

Rory shot the mad man a concerned look before merging onto the road.

The two sat in silence for a few moments; Rory groggily stared out at the moonlit road as the Doctor gave up on studying his hand-to-face comparison.

"Say, Rory," the Doctor began casually, "where exactly are we off to? Where's Amy?"

"She is in bed, craving pickles," Rory stated, signaling to turn onto the next street.

"Pickles!" the Doctor parroted, his eyebrows shooting up with interest. He turned back to watching the road. "I do enjoy pickles.

"And so we are…?"

"Fetching her a jar."

"Of pickles?"

"_Dill_ pickles," Rory amended. Apparently, the adjective was an important indicator.

"A bit late to be fetching a jar of dill pickles, isn't it?" the Doctor noted.

Rory wouldn't argue against that. "She's been having these midnight cravings for the past few months. I thought it was only supposed to be in the early stages of pregnancy, but what would I know? I'm merely a nur—"

"Pregnancy!" the Doctor shouted gleefully as they pulled into the store parking lot. "Amelia Pond is pregnant?"

Rory couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face as he killed the engine. He and Amy were to be parents. "Yeah."

The Doctor lurched at the nurse and pulled him into an eager hug. He planted a large kiss on Rory's cheek and stated joyously, "There's going to be a baby Pond!"

Rory continued to grin goofily until he noticed the time on his watch. "And it's going to be fatherless if we don't hurry with these pickles."

* * *

_(Meanwhile in another universe)_

It was a late night in the house. Rose sat with her knees against her chest, nursing a cuppa. Beside her, a certain Time Lord duplicate had a tool box strewn across their kitchen table. His sonic screwdriver lay open, ready to be meddled with. The Doctor turned it over in his hands, squinting at the design through his brainy specs.

Rose closed her eyes in contentment, enjoying the feel of the warm mug against her fingertips. These were her favourite nights, merely sitting with the Doctor has he toyed with a machine beside her. She would always enjoy merely being with her Doctor, no matter the form he was presented to her in.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump._

Rose snapped her brown eyes open, listening again for the sound. It was somewhat distant, as if it had come from another room in the house.

But as she strained her ears, she no longer heard the threaded pulse.

_Must be imagining things_, Rose thought to herself as she returned to enjoying her cuppa. It was fairly late at night; the mind easily plays tricks on itself at this hour.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump._

Rose was sure she had heard it this time; it had definitely been louder this time. When she turned to the Doctor, she frowned in confusion. He seemed totally unaffected by the noise, continuing to mull over his weapon of choice.

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump… Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump…_

This time, instead of short pulsing, the distant sound continued to echo in the back of the house.

"Doctor, d'you hear that?" Rose asked, wondering why he didn't appear to be listening for the sound.

The Doctor began screwing the side panel back onto his screwdriver, never looking up from his work. "Wha'?"

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump… Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump…_

"_That_." Rose raised her eyebrows.

The Doctor paused his screwing, tilting his head to listen better. "Nope," he said after a moment, popping the p. He resumed reassembling his sonic screwdriver.

Rose gave him a doubting look. How on Earth did he not hear that?

He continued on, completely absorbed with the task at hand.

Rose shook her head fondly and thought to herself, _Boys and their toys._

Gently, she set the mug back onto their kitchen table. She arose from the chair, deciding that she would follow the sound.

As her feet strayed down their hallway, the intensity of the thumping increased. Pulsing, louder, louder until Rose reached hers and the Doctor's bedroom. Her fingertips pressed against the ajar door, opening it further.

Something didn't feel right. In the pit of her stomach, Rose could feel how wrong this was. What it was? Oh, she had no conscious clue. But any residual energy left over from her time as Bad Wolf left her with this horrible sense of foreboding. It had been there at Canary Warf and again at Bad Wolf Bay.

Something terrible and unnatural was stirring within her unconscious mind.

* * *

The flux coagulator had been off. Really, a much easier fix than he had anticipated. With a self-satisfied smirk, the Doctor beamed the sonic screwdriver at the light fixture, causing it to flicker off and then back on.

"Sometimes my own brilliance astounds me," the Doctor gloated with a smirk. He swiveled his head upwards with his most dashing grin, expecting to see a characteristic Tyler eye roll. What he did not expect to see, however, was a vacant chair.

The Doctor let his smirk drop. Really, what was the point of showing off his genius when Rose wasn't there to be impressed?

Had she wandered off to bed already? The Doctor squinted, attempting to recall her bidding him a goodnight. Oh, she did mention a sound…

The Doctor stood with a suddenly wary expression. A sound. A sound that she had heard, but he didn't. _He hadn't heard it._ But he was a Time Lord; their hearing far outshined a human's abilities, Rose Tyler or not. There was no physical way she would have been able to hear a sound that he hadn't.

"Rose?" he called from his rigid stance in the kitchen.

At the silence that met him, a horrible sense of dread and guilt for not instantly listening to her began to swell within his chest.

Where had she gone?

"Rose!"

* * *

_Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump… Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump…_

The pulsing was so loud now. Rose resisted the urge to press her hands over her ears as she entered their bedroom.

The thrumming seemed to be rolling off of their bedroom wall. The TARDIS blue wall was nearly pulsing itself with how much sound it was emitting.

Rose, being the jeopardy-friendly human she was, stepped closer and closer to the wall. Upon reaching it, she hesitantly placed a nervous hand over the wall. She could feel the vibrations radiating through the wall and into her fingertips.

"ROSE!"

The Doctor burst into the bedroom, a frantic look in his eyes. He drank in the sight of Rose well and unharmed greedily before turning his sights on the vibrating wall. At a much lower volume than what Rose was registering, he could hear a distant thrumming in the room now. The sound Rose had initially heard. The sound the Doctor had stupidly discarded.

"Rose, get away from the wall!" the Doctor pleaded frantically. He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and began scanning the sound waves.

Rose turned around and found the Doctor madly scanning the wall. Over the incredibly loud pulsing, Rose had been unable to hear her Doctor. She gave him a confused look and shouted, "What is it?!"

The Doctor lowered his screwdriver as his mouth moved. He seemed to be yelling something, (possibly her name?), and indicated for her to come stand beside him.

Rose allowed her hand to fall from the pulsing wall and took a step towards the Time Lord.

It was the only step she was able to accomplish.

An explosion rang out.

Chunks of wall went flying.

A blindingly bright light was emitted against the dark blue room.

Shards from smashed picture frames, a vase destroyed against mismatched pieces of drywall were sent flying through the air.

The sound of the explosion was nearly deafening.

The Doctor had been fortunate enough to duck and cover as their bedroom wall blew. But, as he raised his head and squinted through the settling debris, he could see that Rose had not been that lucky. She was laid haphazardly across the rubble, her temple stained and streaming with a horrifying crimson.

"Rose!" he screamed, trying to push the separating, dismantled bed frame out of his path to her.

Immediately, a heavy pair of boots stomped out of the bright, blasted hole and into their private bedroom. The intruder strongly resembled the Judoon race, matching the rhinoceros features closely. However, from the pitch black, slitted eyes and the snake-like tongues, the Doctor recognized the cousin of the Judoons: he was a Slithoon.

As more Slithoons poured out of the hole, the Doctor struggled harder to push aside the debris separating him from Rose. He knew the selfish, apathetic nature of the Slithoons. He would die a thousand deaths over before he allowed them to harm Rose.

Just as the Doctor successfully pulled the last of his wooden barriers aside, the leading Slithoon hefted a bleeding Rose Tyler over his shoulder.

"The Bad Wolf has been successfully recruited. I repeat, we have the Bad Wolf," the alien reported, turning on his heel to retreat back to the glowing, pulsing hole.

"SLITHOON!" the Doctor shouted, demanding each alien's attention.

The Slithoon holding Rose paused and faced the demanding nuisance. On each side, the alien was flanked by another Slithoon.

"I'm not quite sure how things run up on your planet Emporium, but here on Earth, we don't take kindly to having our houses explode and loved ones kidnapped!" the Doctor shouted, allowing his Donna-half to shine through in his chastisement.

"Now, I will ask you once and only once," the Doctor demanded, slowly raising his screwdriver at the mysterious blaster in one of the flanking Slithoon's hands, "Give me back Rose Tyler."

The stalemate last for a good few seconds; the Doctor continued to threaten to use his sonic screwdriver, and the Slithoons stared at the mad man.

Then, the leading Slithoon allowed his lips to snarl into a half smile. He would take his chances. With a heavy boot, he turned and walked back to the bright hole with Rose in tow.

The Oncoming Storm seemed to have a flash of lightning. In the next instant, the Doctor exploded the blaster out of another Slithoon's hands with a mere sonic of his screwdriver. The force of the blow against the powerful device electrocuted the Slithoon, stunning him into a heap upon the bedroom floor.

Just as the Doctor turned his screwdriver towards the next Slithoon, the alien spoke into his communication unit. "Threat detected. Defensive response enacted."

Before the Doctor could properly sonic his next foe, a shot rang out.

It didn't hurt at first; it really didn't. The shock of it all was too much for the Doctor's half human body.

He didn't even have a chance to process the blast nor why he was suddenly on his back, staring up at the ceiling. All at once, a burning sensation spread throughout the Doctor's chest painfully; his singular heart was failing.

Distantly, he could hear the heavy footfall of boots fade into the distance.

Perhaps it was his half Time Lord biology or maybe it was merely his desperate desire to save his Rose. The Doctor didn't know why he hadn't died instantly, but he did know his time was severely limited.

With a hideously torturous heft, the Doctor pulled himself upright. With a glance around, the Doctor saw only the unconscious Slithoon, still clutching a dimension blaster. They had taken Rose with them.

The blindingly bright hole in the wall had closed, leaving behind an achingly blank, blue one.

With another desperate heave, the Doctor forced himself to grab onto the Slithoon's forgotten blaster. If it had led them to Rose, perhaps it could lead him back to her.

Moving as quickly as his dying body allowed, the Doctor was able to push himself back upright. With a quick sonic repair, the blaster hummed back to life.

The Doctor aimed it towards the empty wall and fired; another blinding hole emerged in the wall.

With all of the effort he had left, the Doctor crawled towards the opening. He would save Rose.

He had to.

The Doctor reached the wall, bracing himself. All he could do was hope this blaster would lead him back to Rose.

With a final heave, the Doctor tilted back and fell endlessly into the white opening.

* * *

_(Back in Leadworth)_

There was a particular spring in the eleventh Doctor's step. Tonight was a carefree one; he was merely a friend, a family member enjoying another's company.

Oh and with a little Pond on the way! It was a fantastic night.

Upon reaching the front step of the Ponds' porch, Rory held out a hand to the Doctor, blocking his path.

"Doctor, I really do appreciate you coming to the store with me," Rory began tiredly, clutching the dear jar of dill pickles to his chest.

The Doctor grinned satisfactorily.

"And your ten different stories about Thesoloniacs were quite fascinating."

The Doctor smirked to himself, attempting to look bashful.

"But I need you to leave."

The Doctor blinked up, the smirk sliding off of his face. "Rory! You just said you enjoyed my companionship!"

"I do!" Rory hurried to explain himself. "I would, however, greatly appreciate it much more in the morning. I do need to sleep sometime, Doctor."

The Doctor tried to mask his displeasure at being shooed away. "I am not ruckus, Rory Pond. I am capable of quietly waiting on your couch until the morning," he replied indignantly.

Rory did not look convinced. "You could just take a quick hop to the morning, couldn't you? A pop into the TARDIS?"

The Doctor glanced over at his TARDIS. For a few moments, he remained thoughtfully silent.

Rory mistook the mad man's quietness and hurried to further explain himself. "We really do love you, Doctor. I've just been on shift all day is all, and I would like to catch up on some sleep before this baby is born… Doctor?"

The Doctor snapped back to attention, a quick grin instantly masking his face. "Right! Sorry! Rory, why don't you bring those dill pickles up to Miss Amelia, and I will take a quick hop into the TARDIS and just return in the morning?"

With a swift turn on his boot's heel, the Doctor left Rory blinking dumbly on the porch. "Sleep well, Pond!"

With a rather confused scrunch of the eyebrows, Rory turned his key into his front door and went to do just that.

But what the Centurion hadn't noticed, and what the Doctor had, was a flashing beacon atop the TARDIS roof. Seemingly useless to a passerby, the Doctor knew exactly its meaning: a distress signal.

The Doctor's footsteps quickened. Whoever had signaled it had to be inside of the TARDIS. Whoever was inside of the TARDIS had to know the Doctor very personally.

Whoever had signaled the light was in grave danger.

**Sorry this chapter was a bit slow—I needed to get this prequelly bit up in order to pave the way for the storyline. (It gets better, I promise.) Please drop by a review, if you could. I'd love any input!**

**Also, another sorry if any information is incorrect; I'm American so I tried my best with the lingo.**

**I will try to update as soon as possible.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. Embarking on Adventure

**Thank you to NeverMessWithTeddyBears and Aria Mai Olican-Wren for reviewing!**

**On with the story!**

_Chapter 2: Embarking on Adventure_

"Rory."

The Centurion wouldn't let his name coax him from sleep.

"Rory."

He wouldn't.

"Rory!"

Oh, this was all too painfully familiar.

Rory blinked his heavy eyes open to the darkness of his bedroom. He glanced at the form next to him, seeing that his wife was still blissfully asleep.

With a look of confusion, Rory looked to his right, wondering who then had called him from sleep.

Of course. The Doctor's face was mere inches away from his own.

Rory managed to stifle his shriek of surprise. His look of astonishment quickly slid from his face. He looked to his nightstand's clock, grumpily realizing he had only been asleep for fifteen minutes.

"Grab your coat, Rory," the Doctor ordered in a whisper. "We're going on an adventure."

Rory stared at him. He was mad. "Tomorrow, Doctor." With that, he turned over in his bed and attempted to fall back asleep.

There was an incessant tapping on Rory's shoulder. "Typically, I would never be so rude as to wake you in the middle of the night."

Rory rolled his eyes.

"I said _typically_," the Doctor pointed out with a sniff. "But this is a matter of urgency. We must go now."

Rory rolled back over to look at him. "You're a _Time Lord_. I don't think 'urgency' should very much matter to you."

"I'll have you know—" the Doctor began to snap back indignantly.

However, he stopped when Amy began to stir from her sleep. "Not here, Pond," he whispered to Rory, his eyes staring at Amelia's heavily pregnant form.

Rory glanced at his wife, puzzled by the Doctor's behaviour. Before he could question it, the Doctor hurried out of the bedroom and down the hall. His boots could be heard tapping down the wooden stairs.

Curious and sleep-deprived, Rory threw back his covers with a pitiful groan.

The Doctor waited at the base of the stairs as Rory threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt once more. As the companion quietly stomped down the stairs, the Doctor held out a jumper and pair of trainers.

Rory snatched them from the Doctor and began to put them on. "Is Amy not coming?"

"Oh, you know how my adventures always are," the Doctor replied offhandedly. "There's always too much running for a pregnant woman." His smile was tight.

Rory nodded. He didn't like the thought of Amy in danger while pregnant either. Or ever, for that matter.

The Doctor held the front door open for the Centurion, not letting his grin fall.

Rory stomped over to him, but paused with a pointed finger. "You better get me back before my wife wakes and finds me missing." He then continued to march on past, not waiting for an answer.

"I swear on my life, I will, Rory Pond," the Doctor whispered to himself.

* * *

They had marched into the TARDIS, both silently contemplative.

But as Rory approached the center console, he noticed a pair of white Converse lying out from behind it. Ridiculously, the sight reminded him of The Wizard of Oz; the wicked witch of the East having just been crushed by a house.

Ever the nurse, Rory rushed over to the man. Upon running around the console, he got a good view of this unconscious man; he had a blue pinstriped suit, sticky-uppy brown hair, and a relaxed face. Rory knelt down, immediately checking for a pulse. There was none.

The Doctor frowned. He fetched a blanket from under the floor and draped it reverently over the corpse; he couldn't stand the sight any longer.

"What happened?" Rory demanded, shaken out of his shock from the Doctor's movements. "Who is he?"

The Doctor and his frown turned away, choosing to face the center console. With a few swift, mechanical movements, the TARDIS was propelling through the vortex.

Rory cautiously approached the Time Lord who was leaning heavily on the console. "Doctor…"

The Doctor flinched slightly away from the man's extended hand. Quickly, though, he composed himself.

"He's me," he explained offhandedly, as if it didn't matter a bit. "Well, a past me. Well technically a clone. Of the past me, that is. God, could you imagine the bow ties? Two of me flying about!"

With a shake of the head, the Doctor moved away from the console.

Rory merely stood, attempting to process what was happening. Movements out in his peripheral vision caught his eye. He spun around, staring as the Doctor picked up a large blaster cannon from underneath the deceased man's blanket. The deceased Doctor's blanket.

Still trying to wrap his mind around the events, Rory blindly followed the Doctor as he made his way towards the TARDIS doors. With a grand thrust and a gentle creak, they were opened.

"What is that?" Rory wondered aloud, not fully there. How could the Doctor be dead? In any form?

"It's a dimension blaster," the Doctor responded. He aimed it into the swirling vortex, flicking a switch for the blaster to power up.

Rory blinked. "A _dimension_ blaster? Meaning… Meaning we'll be traveling through dimensions?"

The Doctor pulled the trigger. With a hefty jolt, a bright light was emitted from the barrel. The light seemed to latch onto a part of the swirling vortex before pulling, stretching, brightening a section of the vortex that surrounded them.

"It would appear so, yes!" the Doctor yelled back over the angrily loud hole that was erupting before them. He marched back to the center console.

Rory watched with terror, glued in front of the open TARDIS doors. Slowly, then with increasing speed, the hole became larger. Much too large. As if it was getting closer, as if they were flying into it…

"DOCTOR!" Rory shouted in horror. "What about Amy!"

"You'll be back by the morning!" the Doctor shouted back with emerging excitement. "As promised!"

With a look of utter horror, Rory reached and slammed the TARDIS doors shut. He was leaving his own dimension!

"Hold on tight, Rory Pond!" the Doctor yelled back, practically gleeful now. He was gripping the console tightly, orchestrating and keeping himself upright as the TARDIS began to shake and be tossed about.

Not needing any more encouragement, Rory latched onto the nearest bar with both arms.

So this was it. So this was how Rory Williams would die. At the hand of this mad man and his box.

With a jolting crash, the pair and a corpse landed.

**Rose comes back in the next chapter—promise! We're getting to the good stuff! ;)**

**I apologize for taking so long! I've recently moved and started at a new university, so life's been a bit hectic. I'm aiming to publish at least once a week. (Fingers crossed!) The next chapter is already in progress.**

**Thank you so much for reading and following; please drop by a review! :)**


	3. The Return of Rose

**Thank you so much to bananas-are-good-9, NeverMessWithTeddyBears (especially you, you kind soul), and supernena25 for reviewing! You're wonderful, and I'm grateful! :)**

**Speaking of 11/Rose reunions, I encourage you all to read "Reset" by bananas-are-good-9. I'm really diggin' it.**

**And in which Rose returns…**

_Chapter 3: The Return of Rose_

Rory looked to the Doctor. Part of him was fearful of what was awaiting them outside. Part of him wanted to strangle the Doctor for being so daft as to rip him from Amy's universe.

The Doctor took no notice. "Rory! Come help me move… well, I suppose, myself." He gently gathered the deceased clone's feet into his arms.

Speechless but coherent, Rory walked over to the body. Reverently, he gathered the man up from under his arms and head. God, he was transporting a dead body. He was carrying a dead Doctor on the TARDIS. Amy would never believe this.

"What happened to you, Doctor?" Rory questioned, his curiosity eating him.

"Me?" the Doctor responded, slight insult appearing in his tone.

They moved the body to the hallway.

"This _you_," Rory corrected, nodding to the body in their arms. The Doctor pushed open the first, slightly ajar door with his hip.

Rory looked over the pink bedroom quickly, not taking careful notice of the room.

"Well, I wouldn't go so far as to criticize his looks," the Doctor replied indignantly. They lowered him onto the bed in the room.

Rory gave him a look. "Doctor."

"A blaster's shot killed him, Rory." The Doctor struggled to keep his tone light, but the solemnness was there.

Rory mentally cringed from the blaster he had seen a mere minute ago. "And we are in an alternate universe because…"

The Doctor moved out of the room, beckoning his companion to follow. "_Technically_, we're not in another universe. It's more of an alternate reality.

"Alternate universes are definitive; they exist beyond what we experience. But the canon that got us here, it goes beyond blasting through universes; it blasts into possible realities." The Doctor smiled simply, as if this all made perfect sense.

Rory hurried after the Doctor's heels. "What do you mean other realities? Doctor, will we be able to get back to our reality? What makes this one different?"

Rory stopped as they reached the center console, choosing to sit with his legs dangling off the walkway. He pressed his hands against his head in fear and despair. He should not have offered to help the Doctor on this trip. "Ah, I think I'm gonna be sick."

This caught the jubilant Doctor's attention. He turned swiftly from his position by the TARDIS doors and marched up to his companion. "Rory Pond—"

Rory gave him a look.

"You will return to Amy." The Doctor crouched down next to the sitting man. "Before Amy wakes even!" The Doctor hid his slight look of anxiety, knowing that that promise may have been a bit extreme for him.

"This world, this place," the Doctor explained, gesturing to beyond the TARDIS doors, "is a big 'what-could-have-been.' None of this is real.

"Think of our world, for reference's sake, as a big tree. A big, happy tree that we love dearly."

Rory gave him a disbelieving look. The Doctor pressed on, choosing not to notice the other man's reaction.

"Beyond our dear tree are other trees—the tree's sister seeds. These are alternate universes: the universes that occur beyond what happens in our universe.

"But on _our_ tree, there are branches. Branches of impossible realities, realities that never will occur for one reason or another. None of this," again, the Doctor gestured beyond the blue doors, "is real."

"And we're on a… branch? Of our universe?" Rory asked hesitantly.

The Doctor nodded.

"Which is like a…video game? None of this is real?" Rory pressed.

The Doctor screwed up his face at that implication. "It's sort of more complicated than that, Rory. This reality would feel very real to those experiencing it. And we can still die here, so _do not go wandering off_." He pointed a strict finger at the companion for the last portion.

Rory leaned forward. "But _why_ are we here?"

The Doctor grinned mischievously. "Good question, Mr. Pond!" He sprang up from his crouch and raced towards the TARDIS doors.

Rory quickly followed the madman as the blue doors were swung open.

"We are going to rescue Rose Tyler!" he announced to the open air. The name rolled off his tongue like a favourite song, both familiar and loved.

Rory peered over the Doctor's shoulder. There was no one there. In fact, they seemed to be in a desert of some sort. There was white, cracked dirt that stretched out for ages, no buildings in sight. The weather offered a slight draft into the TARDIS, but it was neither cold nor hot; it must have been an alien planet for there to be no extreme weather in a desert.

"I don't see a Rose Tyler, Doctor," Rory offered unhelpfully.

The Doctor merely continued grinning. "And we will find her, Rory!" He pulled a handheld, scanning device out of his tweed coat pocket and began swiveling it across the area. "I placed one of her hairs in the Search-O-Meter 2,000, which is how the TARDIS knew to land here in this location."

The Doctor noticed Rory's expression at the device's title. "Yes, yes, I know, but I couldn't very well call it the 'searchy-thingy,' could I?"

The two stepped out of the TARDIS and followed the direction that the Search-O-Meter 2,000 was beeping at.

"And this Rose person," Rory asked, "she's trapped in this reality?"

The Doctor glanced at his companion with slight embarrassment. "Well, seeing as how all of the alternate-reality Roses have the same DNA, and the whole thing is quite complex, and I was lucky the stolen reality blaster worked at all—"

"Doctor." Rory brought him back to the original question.

"Maybe?"

Rory stared to the empty blue sky stretching overhead, resisting the urge to groan.

The two continued on through the nothingness as the scanner picked up its rhythm.

"So who exactly is this Rose Tyler?" Rory asked. "And how the hell did she get here in the first place?"

The Doctor gave him a grin. "You're rather inquisitive today."

"You're rather jubilant after just witnessing your would-be death," Rory countered.

The Doctor's expression became much more solemn. He didn't want to think about that last bit. "Rose was an old companion of mine. Before the old, cloned Doctor died, he was able to cross over into our universe, signal to my TARDIS, and give me the blaster. Apparently, Slithoons took her. For what reason, I have no idea." The last sentence scared the Doctor the most.

Rory gave him a confused look. "You had to cross universes? Slithoons?"

"Oh, Rory!" the Doctor yelled out exasperatedly. "Minor details! The point is we're—"

A frantic beeping cut the Doctor off. Both men stopped their conversation and looked to the Scan-O-Meter 2,000. Its light was flashing rapidly.

"She must be close," the Doctor noted, not noticing just how much hope was put into those four words.

"Doctor!"

It was a glorious sound. He believed he would never be able to hear his name curve across her lips again. He should have never been able to feel this ecstatic. He didn't deserve to hear that voice, this voice, her voice for as long as his body stretched on his life.

And there she was.

Emerging from a small sand dune, Rose hurried towards the Doctor. The sun reflected off her golden hair, off her euphoric smile.

It was too marvelous to feel entirely. It was one of those moments you can never quite recreate. It was all the Doctor had ever hoped for—right there in front of his ancient eyes.

"Doctor?!" she called again, becoming more unsure as the men's faces came closer, more into focus.

"Rose Tyler!" The name leapt off his tongue as he smiled triumphantly. "How I have missed you."

With an overjoyed and disbelieving look, she rushed up to him. Her arms pulled him into a hug as tears formed in her eyes. "I knew you'd come!" Overjoyed hysteria bubbled in her throat, choking her words with a laugh.

The Doctor held her firmly in his arms, trying to covertly memorize exactly how it felt to hold and smell Rose Marion Tyler.

She pulled back to get a good look at his face. Reverently, she stroked a hand over his smiling cheek. "You've regenerated."

"But I still look cool, don't I?" He wagged an eyebrow at her.

She laughed a glorious, dearly-missed laugh. "Always!"

With their arms around each other, the two began walking back to the TARDIS. Rory hurried to stay with their pace, feeling slightly out of place.

"I heard the TARDIS and thought it was you, but I didn't want to believe it!" she recounted gleefully. "I didn't know when you'd be coming back."

Before the Doctor could respond, Rory cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Oh, Rose! This is Mr. Rory Pond," the Doctor introduced with a gesture to the man on their left.

"Williams," Rory absently corrected with a smile. The three pulled up to the entrance of the TARDIS.

"One of my most recent companions," the Doctor continued, continuously choosing to ignore the correction.

"Companion?" Rose laughed. "I hope you haven't replaced me that fast."

The Doctor froze, halfway turning the key to let them into the TARDIS.

"You've only been gone four hours, Doctor," Rose continued, not noticing his suddenly stony stature.

Rory glanced worriedly between the two, noticing something amiss.

"Rose," the Doctor began carefully, "when was the last time you saw me exactly?"

"You know," she answered, her expression becoming very sober. She could tell something with their timelines was wrong. "Just after them um, the uh, the weeping angels. Or whatever they're called."

The Doctor's smile instantly returned, but his stony eyes did not go unnoticed. "Ah! What an adventure, that was!

"Say, Rose, do you think you could run and grab my Scan-O-Meter 2,000?" He began patting his coat up and down, checking the pockets. "I think I dropped it when we hugged back there."

With a confused but still relieved look, Rose gave a nod. "Sure." She offered each man a parting look before walking back the way they had come.

With a gentle push, the Doctor pushed Rory inside the TARDIS. Rory responded obediently, noticing the Doctor kept his head bent and expression out of view.

As the Doctor shut the TARDIS door, he pulled the Scan-O-Meter 2,000 out of his coat pocket and trotted up to the center console.

"Doctor…" Rory began, unsure of what exactly he should say. He knew what was happening. Well, enough of what was happening.

"It wasn't her, Rory," the Doctor explained anyways, turning knobs and pulling levers as he directed the TARDIS. "The real Rose Tyler has never met a weeping angel in her life. The real Rose Tyler does not know a Doctor with a TARDIS who took her to meet the dreaded weeping angels."

With a last yank, the Doctor pulled a lever for the TARDIS to dematerialize into the vortex.

"DOCTOR!"

Her voice was distant, but it could be heard much too clearly, just outside of the locked TARDIS doors.

The Doctor visibly flinched.

"We can't just leave her!" Rory protested, hurrying back to the TARDIS doors.

"She doesn't happen, Rory!" the Doctor reminded him sternly, angrily. "We can't save her. She isn't real."

"DOCTOR!"

"Listen to her!" Rory objected, waving a hand to the frantic shadow in the window of the TARDIS door. "She is real! That girl right there exists!"

The Doctor marched up to his companion as Rose's cries became fainter and fainter. "We cannot bring back the wrong Rose into our universe. It would create untold paradoxes, and the real Rose would still be trapped in God knows where."

Rory gave him a saddened look, understanding the implications of saving that nonexistent Rose.

"If we save Rose, she," the Doctor gave a harsh point towards the TARDIS doors, "doesn't happen."

Rory stared for a moment and then, reluctantly, nodded.

The Doctor turned away, back to the console for another round of Rescue Rose. The Doctor knew, he always knew, the implications of what this "adventure" would entail. He hadn't, however, accounted for just how painful it would be to leave Rose, imaginary or not, behind like he had.

As Rory watched the Doctor move about, hooking the Scan-O-Meter 2,000 back up to the center console, he thought he saw the Doctor brush away a trailing tear.

**Sorry! I brought her back and ripped her away again. I feel horrible for making the Doctor so harsh, but, honestly, what else could he do?**

**Thanks for reading, favouriting, and following! Please, please review! :) (I swear they make me update faster. They should do some scientific study on that.)**

**P.S. Sorry if the science of it all is a bit confusing or unrealistic. (Isn't it always?) Let me know if you have any questions/suggestions! Hopefully any trailing theories will be answered in later chapter as well.**


	4. The Asylum of Rose

**You are all so wonderful and kind. Thank you all for your support, and thank you especially to skidney, bananas-are-good-9, supernena25, NeverMessWithTeddyBears, and Aria Mai Olican-Wren for your lovely reviews and messages. You're fantastic!**

**I think I like this chapter best so far. Let me know what you think—**

_**(I do not own the quotes you recognize.)**_

_Chapter 4: The Asylum of Rose_

Shards of glass cracked and crumbled under the heavy pressure of the Doctor's boot.

It was eerie, thought Rory. No one was even here. Again. Maybe this Rose had a knack for loitering in vacated areas.

The Doctor peered around the hallway and down to the farthest end. It was so quiet. What was Rose doing in an abandoned hospital?

After another search with the Scan-O-Meter 2,000 and an explosion shot from the reality blaster, the TARDIS had lurched the pair here. Where no one seemed to be.

"Maybe the TARDIS got the coordinates wrong…" Rory suggested doubtfully.

The Doctor shot him a wary glance; the TARDIS was never wrong.

But maybe the Slithoons had brought their victim here.

The Doctor did not like the thought of that.

"Rose!" Rory called out in a hissed whisper.

The Doctor blanched, quickly swatting Rory's arm.

"Ow," he mumbled to himself, holding his arm.

"_Do not_ go calling out when we are on a rescue mission, Rory!" the Doctor hissed, equally as loud as his companion. "Our only advantage is the element of surprise, and I intend on utilizing it!"

"_Doctor…!"_ The name echoed eerily, pleasantly overhead.

The Doctor slid his eyelids closed in equal measures of defeat and despair. Rory looked at the Doctor fearfully.

"Please tell me you suddenly decided to call my name over the hospital's intercom system," the Doctor murmured dangerously to his companion.

The Doctor opened his eyes in time to see Rory frantically shaking his head.

He gave a nod. "Right."

The Doctor swiveled to face the empty hallway and plastered a smile onto his face. With a clap of the hands, he called out, "Hello! And who might you be!"

As the Doctor began taking measured steps down the corridor, a flashing gleam in a separate room caught Rory's eye. "Doctor," he said cautiously, stepping towards the room.

The Doctor waved him off, entirely focused on the ceiling's intercom system. "How do you know who I am?"

"_Tick tock goes the clock,  
And all the years they fly…  
Tick tock, and all too soon,  
You and I must die…"_

The Doctor quickened his pace. _Thud, thud, thud, thud_, his boots began marching down the decaying, linoleum-tiled floor. Because he knew that voice. He would always know that voice.

Rose.

"Really, Doctor, I think you should see this…!" Rory called after the disappearing form of the Time Lord.

But the Doctor had already stridden away and around the corner, out of sight.

"Right," Rory said with a sigh.

"You're such a good companion, Rory," he mocked to himself, daring to edge closer and closer to the creepily dark room. "You gave up your wife for me, your entire universe, really. I ought to give you more vacations where, oh, I don't know, we don't need to run for our lives _every five minutes_."

The red, blinking light was directly in front of Rory now. With a wary scan around the dark room, Rory peered more closely at the light. With a hesitant hand, Rory stuck out a hand to feel what it was.

It was… a computer monitor?

Finding the circular button, Rory pressed the screen on.

Squinting against the harshly sudden light, Rory looked more closely at the illuminating images.

And dread pooled into his stomach at what he saw.

* * *

"_Tick tock goes the clock;_  
_We laughed at fate and mourned her…_  
_Tick tock goes the clock,_  
_Even for the Doctor…"_

"Rose…" the Doctor called out hesitantly, lovingly. "Tell me where you are, Rose."

He turned down another corridor, peering into the darkness of all the vacant rooms. A dim, overused light flickered overhead.

Breathing over the intercom was all that answered him.

"Right," the Doctor breathed out. "I'll check down that hallway; Rory, you go—"

He broke off after glancing to the empty space to his right.

"Blimey, Rory!" the Doctor complained to himself. "There's really only one rule. _Don't go wandering off_. Every time…"

His voice trailed off as he began rounding about to another hallway, keeping an eye out for Rose and, now, his stray companion.

"_Tick tock goes the clock…"_

Her voice was getting louder now.

"_He cradled her, and he rocked her…"_

As the Doctor glanced past another empty hallway, he instantly froze. Backtracking, he peered down the vacant corridor.

"_Tick tock goes the clock…"_

There, at the end of the hallway was a single lit room. Here, the voice was loudest, closer.

The Doctor quickly marched down the tiled flooring.

"_Even for the Doctor…"_

The echoing voice overhead slowly faded into that of one of the Doctor's most cherished companions. Slowly, the Doctor came to a stop outside of the lit room before stepping inside.

Her golden hair was matted and tangled. Her form was bony and rigid. She wore nothing more than a dirty hospital gown and a dim, vacant smile. She sat on the chilled tile floor, her legs crisscrossed. She looked like a child, sitting as she danced two corn husk dolls in her hands.

Behind her, someone had taped down the intercom system's microphone.

"Rose," the Doctor breathed out. This was even worse than he had imagined.

Rose didn't seem to hear him; she continued absently humming to herself as she raked the corn husk dolls across the tile.

Cautiously, the Doctor edged towards her. When she didn't respond, he carefully sat down in front of her, matching her crisscrossed position. "Rose…"

She showed no notice of him, but stated, "This is the Doctor."

The Doctor nodded. "Do you recognize me, Rose?"

"And this is Rose." She danced the two corn husks in front of her.

"What happened to you, Rose?" the Doctor whispered, leaning slightly closer to this broken woman.

"Do you want to play?" With that innocent question, she looked towards the man sitting in front of her.

For the first time, the Doctor got a good look at Rose Tyler. Straying straws of hair clung to her hollowed out cheeks; her cheekbones, along with the rest of her bones, were much too prominent. She wore heavy, dark bags under her eyelids, and her lips were cracked and paled.

But her eyes—her eyes, a normally rich and warm brown, had lost their vitality. Now, they had faded to an empty, greyed, dirt-colour. There was no recognition in her eyes when she looked towards him. There was no life at all.

What could the Doctor do?

Mutely, he nodded to Rose's question.

She continued to smile inattentively as the Doctor noted the many needle and blade marks discolouring her too-pale skin.

"You can be the Doctor," she said dreamily, shoving a corn husk towards him with a brittle hand.

She held up her own doll, mouthing to herself her name.

The Doctor stared mutely at his once lively girl. His pink and yellow human. His now grey and dead human.

"Aaaaah!" she screamed quietly to herself, startling him out of his reverie. With more quieted sounds of screams, Rose pretended that her doll was being dragged to the space in between them. She pinned it down with her hand and then looked expectantly at the Doctor's doll.

The Doctor was not quite sure what to do. What would his corn husk self do if Rose was being pinned before him? Honestly, he didn't want to think about it.

But Rose felt she had waited long enough. With a huff, she grabbed the Doctor's hands and made him begin to tear his corn husk doll apart.

The Doctor stared in a shocked horror as Rose then, satisfied that he had properly portrayed his part, went back to her doll. She allowed it to spin in circles, still quietly screaming. Eventually, the pretend, quieted screams morphed into an absentminded mantra. "Doctor… Doctor…"

"Rose…" the Doctor whispered, setting down his corn husk pieces. "Do you know who I am? Did the Slithoons take you here?"

Rose continued swirling the doll in a circle. Her chanting was quiet but continuous.

As much as he hoped she wasn't, the Doctor needed to know if this was his Rose.

Hesitantly, wishing he didn't have to, the Doctor placed his fingers to her temples.

Rose instantly gasped, beginning to become fearful and recoil from the touch.

The Doctor hurried to reassure these fears, forcing the remains of her mind to find calm.

"Rose," he murmured as he entered into her mind.

She was so broken. Her mind was so shattered. It was so desolate, and she was so alone. Pain used to reign here once, like a king over her mind. But as her sanity crumbled into nothingness, pain had left this broken kingdom behind; there was nothing left to rule.

The Doctor pushed that idea out of his mind, squinting against the way it hurt him. "Rose, I need you to listen to me. It's me, the Doctor… Can you hear me?"

He tried pushing his mind further into hers, letting his presence be announced. It seemed it echoed.

Then, miraculously, there was a spark. In this barren mind, a phenomenal connection was made.

"Doc..tor…?" The name tasted strange on Rose's tongue as she struggled to get it out.

"Yes!" the Doctor responded kindly and fiercely. "I've regenerated, but it's me."

More sparks began to ignite across Rose's mind, flickering her to life. With a sudden, powerful volt, she cast the Doctor out of her awakening mind entirely.

The Doctor blinked at the woman in front of him, waiting for her lowered head to arise.

It didn't take too long. With a brief moment of confused hesitation, Rose lifted her head and stared at him. Rich chocolate began to reenter her vacated eyes. "Doctor?" His name was still thick in her mouth, but it was more coherent.

"Rose," he murmured his relief, quickly kissing the top of her head.

Tears immediately flooded her eyes. "You're alive."

The Doctor couldn't help the tears that began to fill his vision as well. He stroked her matted hair away from her cheek as he nodded. "Hello."

"You git," she accused in a sob-strangled cry. She grabbed his tweed coat and pulled him towards her.

He gratefully accepted the hug as he kissed the top of her head once more.

"Doctor!" Rory's shout was distant, but the sound of his feet running against linoleum resonated closer and closer.

"Doctor!" he demanded again, panting in the doorway of the room. "There's something about this room!"

The couple pulled out of their hug but didn't let go of one another's hands.

"What is it, Rory?" the Doctor demanded worriedly, looking to his companion.

"I think there's—"

"Agh!" Rory's explanation was cut off by Rose's sudden cry.

The two looked to her as she let go of the Doctor and gripped at the sides of her head.

"Rose?" the Doctor pressed frantically.

"It's in my head!" she cried back, her eyes squeezed shut with pain.

The Doctor pulled her hand from her face so he could enter into her mind. He was only able to last for a moment before a sharp, electric volt forced him out again.

"Agh!" she cried again, her hands pressing tightly against the sides of her skull.

"What's wrong with her?" Rory questioned, crouching down to examine Rose.

"They placed a chip of some sort in her mind," the Doctor responded anxiously. "It's electrocuting her within her brain."

"Someone has been watching her, Doctor," Rory informed him urgently as they held the screaming Rose. "With a security camera and the intercom system."

"I don't think they like that she woke up," the Doctor commented as he began checking the base of her skull for incision marks.

Abruptly, Rose's cries silenced altogether. She slouched onto his lap, facedown.

Sharing a fearful look with Rory, the Doctor flipped her back over.

She was still breathing, and her eyes were open. But they had faded back to their murky discolouration as her vitality left her once more.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" the Doctor shouted, placing his fingers to Rose's temple and entered her mind. Only empty desolation met him.

Tears began dripping down his face as he stroked the lifeless cheek of the woman he loved. He murmured her name in a desperate plea.

"Is… this is her?" Rory hesitantly asked, checking the woman's wrist for a pulse. "Our universe's Rose…?"

The Doctor scrubbed a hand at his dripping nose. "I don't know. She, she could be…" He stared hard at the careless woman's face, trying to convince himself that this was not his Rose Tyler, that she was one of the many illusions. Rose had implicated that her Doctor had been brutally killed; had that been her reality or a mere hallucination of a fractured mind?

"If the Slithoons come," Rory proposed quietly, "then we know it was them who took her. We would know that she… is Rose."

The Doctor didn't respond to Rory. But, very carefully, he pulled this lifeless companion to the wall where she could lean limply. With a last kiss to her head, he turned away.

His eyes seemed to have steeled over with determination. He marched to the wall and ripped up where the intercom's microphone had been taped down. Pressing the 'on' button, he began to speak.

"Hello, hello, Slithoons, humans, or aliens of some form!" The Doctor spun in a circle as Rory watched him warily. "It seems you have taken this lovely Rose Tyler! Now, I can't help but ask why. Why is it that you are working so hard to make her miserable?

"More importantly, Rose Tyler is a friend of mine. I do not take kindly to when people hurt my friends. I would like to meet you, whoever you are! So come out, come out! Don't be shy…" the Doctor trailed off, staring into the security camera's lens, waiting.

After a beat of silence, a rasping voice grinded overhead, using a different microphone. "And who… Are… You…?"

The Doctor smirked into the camera. "I, am the Doctor! Now run along, boys, or the show will be over."

The intercom cut off with an abrupt, high-pitched noise as the Doctor released the 'on' button and threw it to the ground.

"What happens to her?" Rory wondered aloud, staring at the woman the Doctor refused to turn and face. Not now. "If we don't save her, will she keep living this hell of a life?"

The Doctor's mouth pressed into a hard line. "If we save Rose Tyler, her correct time stream will be all there is for our universe."

"So if she isn't Rose…"

"This Rose will only become real if we bring her into our reality, Rory," the Doctor explained sadly. "If we bring back the wrong Rose, she will replace the real Rose. Timelines will shift, and the real Rose will merely become a nonexistent one."

Rory stared at him for a moment before stooping down and touching Rose's cheek. He wished the real Rose was not her; he wished the woman would not be burdened with so much heartache.

Heavy stomping and fierce yells echoed down to their room.

Quickly, the Doctor popped his head out into the hallway. He quickly popped in back into the room, his eyes horrifying wide. "Nope, nope, wrong reality! Those are definitely _not_ Slithoons."

The Doctor began mulling about the room, looking for something to allow their escape.

"You're sure?" Rory pressed with a severe and worried look.

"No, of course I'm not sure, Rory!" the Doctor responded bitterly as he quickly closed their door and pushed a heavy table in front of it. "The evidence suggests that this is not my Rose Tyler, and that's really the best we have to go on at this point."

Rory gave Rose's cold hand a reassuring squeeze before murmuring, "We will find you. I promise."

When he straightened from his crouch beside the all-but-dead woman, he caught the Doctor staring fondly at him. "What?" he demanded, becoming self-conscious.

Before the Doctor could respond, a loud banging resonated against the door.

"Time to go!" the Doctor announced ushering his companion away from the door.

"We'll save you, Rose Tyler," the Doctor promised the vacated woman, lying against the cold wall. "I swear by it."

With a shove, the Doctor pushed Rory through a window that connected the room to another hospital room.

As the two dared to peek out of the dark room and into the hallway, they saw five, muscular and snake-like aliens shove their way into Rose's room.

It only took the aliens five seconds to enter the room and realize the Doctor had escaped; but that was all he needed.

"Kill him!" one of the aliens ordered in a gruff shout.

The Doctor had already pushed Rory out the door and into the hallway where they began making their escape. As they turned a corner, a phaser's beam crumbled the corner of the wall above their heads.

"Run, run!" the Doctor encouraged frantically when his companion froze in shock for a moment.

The two shot off down the way they had come, praying that someone had stupidly left the TARDIS doors unlocked.

What the aliens made up for in burliness, they lacked in speed. They had only made it to the corner of their hallway when the Doctor and Rory shoved their bodies inside the stupidly, luckily unlocked TARDIS doors.

Phasers' beams shot off outside the TARDIS as the Doctor locked the doors and hurried to speed off.

The telltale sound of her engines churned as the pair was dematerialized into the vortex.

With a relieved huff, Rory plopped down onto the floor. He ran a hand over his weary face. God, he needed sleep.

The Doctor looked to his companion. "Look at you! You're drained. Really, when was the last time you slept? As a nurse, you really ought to be taking better care of yourself, Rory."

Rory shot him a withering look, but the Doctor ignored it. "Off to bed, chop, chop! We'll resume once you've had some rest."

With a sigh, Rory followed the orders as he made his way back to his bedroom.

As the companion stumbled out of sight, the Doctor pressed his lips together into a hard line. His hearts hurt from the hope, the pain, the agony, the wanting.

He flipped a switch and grabbed the reality blaster from where it was resting on the center console. He wouldn't stop; he couldn't stop for Rory to rest. He needed to find and save Rose.

With a quick unlock and thrust to the TARDIS doors, the Doctor pushed them open. With another blast and a beep from the Scan-O-Meter 2,000, another reality stretched and pulled the TARDIS inside.

**Please review, and tell me what you think!**

**Next chapter, the Doctor attempts to save Rose… alone. Stay tuned!**


	5. Doctor Who

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**Please let me know what you think of this chapter once you're through! :)**

_Chapter 5: Doctor Who_

The Doctor stepped into an alley. The ground was made up of damp, cracked cement. The alleyway was just as dark as the night sky overhead, using only the moon's beams to illuminate itself. In the dark, only the outlines of trashcans could be seen.

The Doctor strolled away from his recently parked TARDIS, taking carefully placed steps. He didn't hear or see anyone; only distant car engines and crickets echoed to his ears.

Casually, the Doctor pulled out his Scan-O-Meter 2,000, watching as the red light flashed Rose's location.

"NO!"

The nearby, sudden shriek jolted the Doctor out of his quiet thinking. He nearly dropped the device in his hands but managed to save it before it could smash onto the ground.

"PLEASE! STOP! SOMEONE, HELP!"

The Doctor's senses were on high alert as he tucked the device back into his coat pocket. He began running to the sound of the frantic woman's voice.

Because he thought it sounded familiar. He thought it might be… But he wasn't quite sure…

As the Doctor emerged from the alleyway, he pulled up to the back of a building. With a quick scan to the seemingly abandoned area, he saw her. Rose and three men in the corner of the lot. The Doctor's hearts quickened as he saw the blonde pinned against the building's wall.

"PLEASE!" she screamed, struggling away from their grasps. "NO!"

"What you gonna do 'bout it, swee'heart?" the man pinning her to the wall murmured in her ear. "Fight me?"

"Don't tempt me."

The three men spun around quickly in fear at the threatening voice. Upon seeing a young man in a tweed coat and a bow tie, they instantly relaxed.

The one holding Rose, apparently the leader, never released her as he faced the Doctor with a chuckle. "Go home, kid. This party ain't big enough fo' the four of us." His dark eyes turned back to rake over Rose's body.

She struggled against him.

The Doctor stepped forward, causing the two henchmen to step in front of him. "Oh, but I love parties. Galas, balls, fiestas, fêtes—though this one does not seem quite like the kind of party I would enjoy." The Oncoming Storm seemed to resonate through his skin and voice, despite his pleasant words.

The henchmen took an unconscious step back.

The leader chuckled darkly again. "'Don't think ya would." He turned his attention back to the whimpering Rose as he rasped his order. "Boys, take 'im out."

The two henchmen took an advancing step as the Doctor took a retreating one.

He gave a slightly bashful smile as they continued their prowl. "Oh, I wouldn't recommend that."

The henchman on the right gave a humoring smile before taking the first swing.

The Doctor neatly ducked under it as Rose's screams resumed filling the night air.

The second man ran at the Doctor, tackling him to the harsh pavement.

The air was knocked from the Doctor's lungs, but he didn't allow it to stop him; his body was not entirely air-dependent.

With a quick swipe, the Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver from his coat pocket. The Doctor adjusted the settings while the man pulled back his fist to swing. As he moved his swift finger to press the sonic button, the man's fist connected with the Doctor's face, knocking his head back.

The man pulled back his fist to take another swing, but stopped abruptly as a sharp pain echoed through his ears. The Doctor held the sonic up to the man's ear, causing the man to crumple and then blackout.

The Doctor straightened himself with a satisfactory smirk.

_BAM!_—the second assailant tackled the Doctor again. The sonic screwdriver went flying from the Doctor's grasp and rolled across the chilled pavement.

Out of resources, the Doctor attempted to roll the bald, burly man off of him with little success.

The assailant grinned in success as he pulled back his meaty fist.

The Doctor watched the fist with close attention. Three… two… one… _SMACK_. The Doctor rolled his head to the side at the last second, causing the man's fist to connect heartily with the pavement.

The burly man howled with pain, cradling his broken fist to his chest.

The Doctor was able to wiggle out of the man's weakening grip and immediately ran over to where Rose was screaming.

With an angry grunt, the Doctor yanked the leader off of Rose. Her shirt had been torn open, exposing her exposed midsection to the chilly night air.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked her with concern, all other thoughts momentarily fleeing his mind.

With tearful eyes, Rose looked up in fear.

In the next moment, the Doctor felt why she was still fearful; the leader had already recovered and yanked the Doctor to the ground.

At another man's mercy for the third time that night, the Doctor moved swiftly; he needed to attend to the shaken Rose. Lord knows what the Slithoons had done to her before dumping her in this run-down neighborhood.

The Doctor kicked this man in the stomach, causing him to keel over and grip his abdomen. The Doctor quickly rolled, grabbed his sonic, and forced the leader into an intruding sleep with the press of a button.

With a grand huff and another straightening of his coat, the Doctor looked to Rose with another proud grin.

She merely stared at him, her mouth agape, with equal amounts of gratitude and shock.

"Now," the Doctor said with a gleeful grin, "what do you say we get you back—"

_CLANG._

The sound of the metal pipe reverberating off the Doctor's skull seemed to echo around the abandoned area.

The Doctor had just enough left in him to spin and see the face of the second, broken-handed assailant grinning. Then, the world went black.

* * *

Rory stretched, coming down the TARDIS stairs in his jimjams. He had a drowsy grin left over from sleep. God, he hadn't slept that well in who knows how long. What time was it, anyways? Well, they were in a time machine; what much did it matter?

As Rory leaned against the center console, he wondered where the Doctor had wandered off to. The pool, maybe? Frankly, he was surprised that the Doctor had allowed him to get that much sleep at all; he half expected him to arouse him after fifteen minutes to go in search of Rose again.

So where was he, anyways?

"Doctor?" Rory called out, his voice still shaking off the grogginess of slumber.

No one answered.

Rory rubbed sleep from his eyes, unsurprised. The Time Lord could be anywhere on this ship; it was very likely he couldn't hear him.

_Eggs_, Rory thought to himself. _And bacon_. That was what he needed.

With those images in mind, Rory began stumbling past the center console for the kitchen. He was nearly caught up in the imagined bacon smell, except—

Something green on the center console caught his eye, stopping him.

He turned, approaching it for closer examination. It… was sticky notes. Four lined up, as the first had run out of room for the note. Rory was certain he hadn't noticed it before—it had been placed recently.

_Rory—_

_In the case that you are reading this, I must be out. Well, I suppose I am out. I may have forgotten to take down this note. Would you mind tossing this into the garbage once you're through with it? I am not certain I'll remember to take it down now. _

_Well, in the case that I am, indeed, out, I expect to be back shortly. Take care, and, please, __do not go wandering off__!_

—_The Doctor :)_

Rory blinked at the note surprise. He had left him behind… who knows when! How long had he been out there, leaving only a note with a smiley face?

"Bloody hell," Rory grumbled to himself, hurrying off to find his trousers. If he was going to help the alien in another reality, he bloody well wasn't going to be doing it in his jimjams.

* * *

The Doctor's lips released an involuntary groan.

That ringing… _ah_, and that blasted _pounding_ in the back of his skull…

"…can you hear me…"

The voice was faint, but it echoed into the Doctor's throbbing mind. It sounded like… Like…

"…hello…?"

_**Rose.**_

The Doctor's eyes snapped open. Rose, who had been leaning closely to him, jumped back in surprise at his sudden awakening.

The Doctor instantly regretted his rash actions, squinting his eyes shut against the harshly bright light piercing in from the window.

Where was he? He glanced around for a bit, realizing he was on a couch in a shabby apartment. But then his eyes found purchase.

Rose leaned towards him a bit, having recovered from his shocking awakening. She brushed her blonde hair behind her ear in that way she does. She glanced down at his hands before looking into his eyes to speak in that way she does. God, he had missed her.

But now she was looking at him expectantly. Oh. She had said words when her lips begun to move. The Doctor tried to play it back, but the words weren't coming.

She must have attributed his speechlessness to the head injury because her brow began to furrow with worry. "Are you alright…?"

The Doctor had heard her then. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his head. "Chipper!" He immediately swung his legs over the side of the sagging couch, pushing himself into a sitting position. And he, again, immediately regretted it.

Rose chuckled to herself as he gripped the aching sides of his skull. "You look like you got a hangover."

The Doctor's mouth pressed into a grim line as he nodded. "Feels a bit worse."

"I… I wasn't sure if I should take you to the hospital," Rose explained, suddenly sober. "I didn't want… I didn't know how to explain…"

The Doctor constrained his hands to his sides, forcing himself to look better than he felt. "Oh, there's no need for that! A good cuppa, and I'll be right as rain!"

The Doctor frowned to himself. "That's a stupid phrase. Remind me to never say that."

Rose chuckled awkwardly, brushing her straying hair behind her ear again. She rose, moving to make him that tea. "Well, I can't thank you enough for last night. I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't appeared."

The Doctor smiled dazedly, rising to meet her. "It shouldn't have happened at all." With a sigh, he closed his eyes and leaned forward.

"Rose," he breathed. And in the next moment, his lips were on hers. It was a victorious kiss, one expressing all the euphoria the Doctor had acquired from saving Rose Tyler.

And then their lips were ripped apart.

The Doctor's eyes shot open in surprise. Rose had stumbled back, pressing a hand to her mouth in horror. Her eyes revealed confusion and, underlying that, fear.

"What in the hell are you doin', mate?" she hissed angrily, wiping her mouth on her grey, cotton sleeve.

The Doctor tried not to show his hurt. "Rose—"

"And how the hell do you know my name?!" she exclaimed, becoming truly frightened.

Oh. Oh, it all made sense now. The Doctor wanted to hit himself for being so stupid. Rose had never met his eleventh incarnation. How would she be expected to recognize him?

"Rose, it's me," he said calmly, placing a hand on her arm. "I'm the Doctor." He gave her a grin, waiting for her answering one.

Rose pulled her hand back as if she had been scorched. Her eyes showed a distrust that cut the Doctor to the very core. "You're a doctor?"

The Doctor scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "I'm the Doctor! Who else would be flying around in a TARDIS?"

Rose took a small step back as she held her hands up defensively. "Look, Doctor Whoever You Are, thanks for savin' me last night, but I think it's time you left." She retreated to her scuffed, off-white door before opening it. She stood beside it with her arms folded across her abdomen.

An aching sadness throbbed in the Doctor's soul, overshadowing the forgotten pain in his head. After all, that one was merely physical; emotional aching cut so much deeper.

"You don't know who I am, do you?" His voice was just above that of a whisper.

The pain in his voice, in his eyes, caused Rose to look at him with concern. She bit her lip in that way she does. For some strange reason, she wanted to tell him that she did know him. How could anyone forget him? Someone so kind, with eyes so old…

But she shook her head.

"Right," the Doctor said, straightening his bowtie. With a nod to Rose, he murmured, "It's nice to meet you, Rose Tyler. Stay safe."

As he passed her at the door, he paused for a moment. He wanted so desperately for her to be Rose. He wanted so badly for this nightmarish 'adventure' to cease. He watched as his hands involuntarily reached out to touch the hand of the girl he had held for so many years.

Hers inched back. He tried to not to wince.

With a final nod, the Doctor turned on his boot and headed down the apartment complex's stairs.

Rose watched him go, biting her lip. It felt strangely wrong to watch him go. It felt strangely wrong to not reach out and hold his offered hand. It was all so strangely wrong.

With a sigh, Rose gently shut her apartment door.

* * *

The Doctor approached the TARDIS in the alleyway. Another reality, another failure. It was as if each wrong reality they had ended up in, Rose had placed another weight upon his heart. He was failing Her, his Rose, as he wasted time in these meaningless places. And with each wrong turn, his soul began to feel heavier and heavier.

"DOCTOOOOOR!"

The shout came from behind him as he opened the TARDIS door. It was strange, because it sounded strangely like Rory…

The Doctor turned with an apprehensive stare. He was sure he had left very formal, explicit instructions on _not wandering off_…

By the time Rory reached him, the Centurion was panting. "I've been… trying to find… you… all night…"

The Doctor peered suspiciously behind the wheezing man. "What exactly are you running from, Rory?"

Rory waved that implication off as he caught his breath. "Just running to catch you. I was worried you'd leave without me again."

The Doctor offered him a grin and slapped him heartily on the back. "I'd never leave you behind, Rory!

"Now, we've got other realities to explore; the Rose here didn't even realize who I am," the Doctor summarized, turning to step into the TARDIS.

"Who's Rose?"

The Doctor's boot froze mid-step; his grin was forcibly plastered to his face. He swiveled, facing a confused Centurion. A face that genuinely did not recognize the name Rose…

The Doctor widened his grin amicably. He placed his hands on Rory's shoulders with a soft chuckle; Rory watched him apprehensively.

Then, with a swift thrust, the Doctor shoved the companion down onto the pavement.

As Rory made a sound of protest, the Doctor bolted into the TARDIS and promptly locked the door.

The TARDIS door rattled. "Doctor!" the man yelled from the opposing side. "Let me in!"

The Doctor's frantic eyes hastily scanned the TARDIS's visible interior: empty. "RORY!"

The door quaked again. "Doctor! What the hell is wrong with you? Let me in the TARDIS!"

The Doctor closed his eyes, leaning back against the rattling door. "Sorry, Rory, can't do that."

"Why the bloody hell not?!"

"I'm not your Doctor!" he shouted back before mumbling to himself, "'Though, I am curious to know where he is."

"What are you talking about?!"

"You are the wrong Rory!" the Doctor called back. "I'm sorry, but I need the one I came with. The universe has a strict one timeline only policy."

There was a moment of paused confusion before Rory shook the door again in agitation. "Doctor! Doctor, let me into the TARDIS!"

The Doctor ignored him, bolting over to the center console to do a life forms scan of the TARDIS. No Rory.

The Doctor looked to the pounded door apprehensively. Where exactly was his Rory Pond, then?

If he left the TARDIS to find him, they might keep missing each other… If he left the TARDIS, the other Doctor, the one this Rory wanted, may see and take this TARDIS…

With a sigh of defeat, the Doctor sat down against the shaking doors. He would be forced to wait and hope that his Rory Pond would come along, wandering back home.

At least, he hoped so.

**Thanks for stickin' with me! I'm excited to write the next chapter—I'll try to update when I can. :)**

**Please, please review, and let me know what you thought! **


	6. An Endless Torment

**Wow! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! I've been busy with midterms, tests, homework, vacations, and today is my birthday! I thought you guys finally deserved an update though. Sorry!**

**Thank you so much to skidney, NeverMessWithTeddyBears, thereadingturtle, supernena25, greeneyesCutie, kai, bananas-are-good-9, and this is my pseudonym for reviewing! I love you all for your support and kindness and input! You're so wonderful! Thank you!**

**Also, one of these lovely reviewers pointed out to me that I never actually explained how Rose and the Doctor got away from those troublesome men in the last chapter—Oops! Rose used the sonic screwdriver to knock out the last assailant and then called her neighbour to help her bring him back to her apartment. That was one of those things that just played out in my head but never got typed. Sorry about that!**

**On with the story—**

_Chapter 6: An Endless Torment_

"Fifty-five bottles of milk on the wall, fifty-five bottles of milk…" The Doctor trailed off his tired song with a sigh. He pulled a disgruntled bite from the red, twisted licorice in his fist.

The pounding on the door had ended hours ago. Well, he thought it had been hours. Honestly, it felt like days, just waiting for _his_ companion to return.

The Doctor hoped this wrong Rory had trailed off to find this universe's version of the Doctor. How would that be? To be able to meet himself in this body… What he must be like, if he had never had the pleasure of meeting Rose…

The TARDIS door the Doctor was leaning against began to rattle, jolting the Doctor from his imaginings.

"Doctor?" Rory's voice called through the door, giving the blue wood a knock.

"What's the password!" the Doctor called grumpily from his slump. He chomped off another bite of licorice.

There was a confused pause before Rory's incredulous, "_What_?"

"Who's Rose?" the Doctor tried again, still calling out from his slouch.

"Who's this?" Rory asked, beginning to believe that this man was not his Doctor. Why was he acting so strangely?

The Doctor threw a disbelieving look to the door before shooting back, "Who's this?"

Rory's groan could be heard through the doors. "Doctor!" He rattled the door again.

The Doctor jumped up from the ground and swiftly unlocked the door before pulling it open just enough for his head to peek through. "Why are you here, Pond?"

Rory's confused expression clouded over with frustration. "Because you dragged me here in the dead of night, from my warm bed, and wife, in order to rescue Rose, who, I also might add, I don't even know."

The Doctor threw the door open in delight. "Rory Pond!" He hugged the Centurion before planting a kiss to his cheek.

In confusion, Rory patted the Doctor's back in the hug. "Doctor…?"

"Rule number one, Pond," the Doctor chastised, sobering immediately with a pointed finger. "Don't wander off." He turned and marched back into the TARDIS, ready to be on the search of Rose already.

Rory followed after him, still slightly confused. "That's not rule one." He shut the TARDIS's doors behind him.

The Doctor raised an expectant eyebrow as he danced around the center console, sending them into the Vortex.

"The Doctor lies," Rory clarified, his attention focused on the movements of the Doctor's hands.

The Doctor froze for a moment before carefully looking over at his companion. Their eyes met, and the Doctor turned away. "Fair enough." His voice was quiet.

With another shove to a lever, the Doctor grabbed the dimension blaster and strode over to the TARDIS doors. With another blast, the TARDIS was swallowed into another reality.

* * *

"She should be in there," the Doctor pointed out, looking up from his Scan-O-Meter 2,000.

The two looked up at the brick house. It was quaint with ivy growing along its walls. A pleasant garden with sunflowers, daffodils, hollyhocks, and snapdragons edged the wooden front porch.

"These Slithoons really pick the most terrifying locations," Rory commented dryly, looking at a smiling garden gnome.

The Doctor gave him a wary glance. He had to admit, the chances were pretty slim that this was _his_ Rose. Still, he had to try.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, startling the men. The Doctor could feel the breeze of the bullet skim just past his right ear.

"Oi!" the Doctor shouted, ducking behind the sunflowers. He pulled Rory down with him.

The screen door banged shut as the shooter stepped onto the front porch. Cowering behind the sunflowers, the two could only hear the cock of a shotgun.

"We must be in the States," Rory hissed dryly.

The Doctor snatched a white handkerchief from his trousers' pocket. He waved it tentatively above their ducking heads. "Don't shoot! We're looking for someone; have you—have you seen a Rose Tyler?"

Just as the Doctor began raising his head from the plants, the white handkerchief was shot out of his hand. "Oi!" he protested again.

The Doctor, being the madman he was, straightened immediately to face the shooter. Rory tried to pull him back, but the Doctor ignored his companion.

And then, the Doctor froze. This wasn't some beer-bellied man defending his property. This, this was Rose Tyler.

Her eyes were so cold.

"Leave," she ordered the Time Lord through clenched teeth. "Now."

The Doctor merely blinked in surprise.

With a glance at the Doctor's speechless face, Rory tentatively rose from his crouch behind the plants. He, too, was surprised to see Rose standing before them, shotgun aimed.

"Oi!" she shouted angrily, hot tears streaming on her cheeks. "Are you deaf now? Get outta my garden!"

"Rose," the Doctor breathed, taking a blind step towards the woman he loved. "It's me, the Doctor—"

"Yeah, I bloody know who you are," she snapped. She hastily shoved her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Rose…" he mumbled, his feet momentarily pausing. He wanted so badly to hold her against his chest, to wipe away those hot, angry tears, and to rescue her. He wanted… He wanted his Rose.

"I can't see you again, Doctor," she ground out, gripping the barrel of her gun. He tried not to relish in the way his name sounded on her tongue. "I _won't_."

This wasn't his Rose. The steel hardened behind her eyes assured him of that. He ought to walk away now. He ought to leave this shadow self behind and find Her. But he had to know.

"Why?"

Rose's angry expression turned irately confused. "Why?" she parroted. "How could you be that daft? You killed my family, Doctor! You thought we could save those stupid aliens. You didn't give a damn about what would happen if they retaliated. Against me. Against Mum, against Tony…" She turned her head away quickly, trying to suffocate her erupting sob.

The Doctor's body felt heavy, like someone had replaced all of his blood with lead. He wished, oh he wished, he hadn't asked. Vaguely, he wondered if the Doctor of this universe was roaming with the coarse feelings he had now. Maybe death had become an opportunity for his shadow self. He couldn't imagine living in a world where Rose despised his entire existence, where he had destroyed her soul.

With a tug on the Doctor's coat, Rory began walking back towards the direction of the TARDIS.

The Doctor didn't dare look back at Rose as he walked. He needed to see Her. He needed to see a version of her that hadn't been so shattered by his destructive hands.

They heard the bitter screen door snap shut behind them.

* * *

The Doctor was back to dancing around the center console. His falsely optimistic grin was displayed on his face. "Off we go, Rory! Another reality, maybe this is the one Rose was taken to!"

But Rory was tired. He stared detachedly as the Doctor used the dimension blaster to bring them to a new reality.

"How much longer, Doctor?" His voice was quiet.

The Doctor pretended not to hear him, smiling as he pulled the TARDIS to a landing. "Hmm?"

"How many more universes do you have to suffer through before we find Rose Tyler?" Rory's voice took on a harsher edge with each word.

The Doctor tried not to wince. "It just takes time! These realities are so intricate, and there are so many that need to be waded through to find the right Rose—"

"How many?" Rory demanded, staring stonily at the Time Lord.

The Doctor straightened his back defensively, turning to face his companion. "It-it depends on which ones—"

"_How many?_" Rory demanded more forcefully.

"Infinite!" the Doctor revealed, his voice slightly manic. The two blinked at each other, the dreaded word finally unveiled for all to see.

"Infinite," the Doctor spoke again, more quietly this time.

Rory blinked in shock, frozen to his spot. This was not what he had signed up for. They would be here for years trying to find this damned Rose Tyler! They would never… They could never…

The Doctor had already turned to walk out of the TARDIS doors. In a fit of rage, Rory ran at him with a shout, tackling him to the ground.

"Rory!" the Doctor protested in surprise.

"You lied to me!" Rory shouted in panic, shaking the Doctor by his tweed lapels. "You said this would be an _adventure_! You said we'd just pop into another universe and save Rose!"

"Well, technically, I—"

"You said it would be _tricky_! You didn't say it would be infinitely impossible!"

The Doctor grabbed onto his companion's shoulders. There was a defensive shield in his eyes. "It's not impossible! We're going to save Rose!"

"I'm never going to see my wife again!" Rory roared, not believing the Doctor's blind belief. "If I do, I'll be old and grey! I'll never see my baby!"

"Agh!" In a frustrated grunt, Rory pulled back his fist and let it snap on the Doctor's jaw.

The Doctor gripped his already bruised chin in his hands. "_Ow!_"

Rory pulled back his fist to attack this blasted Time Lord again.

Hurriedly, the Doctor rolled the companion off of him. He jumped up from the ground and ran to the other side of the center console so that it separated himself from the crazed Centurion.

Rory charged after him. But, as he moved to reach the Doctor, the Doctor would merely skirt to the opposing side of the console.

"I am going to kill you, Doctor," Rory threatened darkly as the two danced their way around the console.

The Doctor knew the man wasn't serious in his threat, but he felt it safe to keep some distance for now. "I promise I will return you to your pregnant wife safe and sound, Rory."

"In a casket!" Rory shot back, still trying to reach the madman.

"No!" the Doctor disagreed indignantly. "I will you return you to her! Soon!"

Realizing he was incapable of catching the evasive Doctor, Rory allowed himself to stop chasing and calm down.

The Doctor watched warily as Rory leaned over to catch his rapid breath.

"Do you swear it, Doctor?" Rory asked after a few silent moments. "Would you be capable of giving up if we can't find Rose?"

The Doctor thought about it. Honestly, he couldn't imagine living with the knowledge that Rose was out there, kidnapped, scared, and, quite possibly, abused. Crossing over from realities was already a tentative business. If he returned to the real universe, who was to say the other realities wouldn't shut down? What he even be allowed to still remember Rose Tyler?

Rory took a step towards the Doctor. "If, after we've explored a few more realities, I say we need to abandon this rescue mission, would you take us back?"

The Doctor looked with ancient eyes at this man. And he nodded.

For Rory's sake, he nodded.

With a slightly relieved but mostly guilty sigh, Rory turned to face the TARDIS doors. He would put his heart and soul into finding Rose Tyler. He needed to find Rose Tyler. Because there was no way he could abandon his wife and child forever.

But, secretly, he knew he could never ask the Doctor to give up his woman either.

With new determination, the two shot the TARDIS into the new reality.

**Alright, we're winding down to the rescue! Stay tuned!**

**(Sorry, this chapter was pretty short. I thought you guys might want the update of what I've finished thus far.)**

**Please let me know what you though/any questions you guys have! You are all amazing!**


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